Krishna Pal Gurjar, Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highway and Shipping, will lay the foundation stone for a new passenger terminal building at Mormugao port in south Goa on Wednesday.

The cruise terminal building will house Customs and Immigration clearance, and include facilities such as baggage screening, passport reading machines, duty-free shops, money-changers and communication facilities. It will also feature a shopping arcade for display and sale of local handicrafts and other products of interest, as well as a lounge and restaurant facilities.

Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) has been sanctioned a grant of ₹8.79 crore from the Union Tourism Ministry for the construction, a spokesperson of MPT told BusinessLine on Tuesday. Despite Goa’s popularity as a tourist destination, the share of cruise tourism is still very low. About 20-25 cruise vessels call at the MPT every year between October and May. Although the MPT has been servicing cruise vessels for quite some time, cruise tourism was never considered a priority area as the port’s core competence lies in the safe and effective handling of cargo vessels, said the spokesperson.

Cruise vessels

Last year, investing close to ₹90 crore, MPT completed a well-equipped 450m-long dedicated cruise terminal, with a draft of 9.5m, considered country’s biggest such facility, where world’s largest cruise ships, carrying over 4,000 passengers, can berth.

Now the port will construct a world-class cruise terminal building — a prime requirement to attract well-heeled tourists, said the spokesperson.

The berth will allow MPT to join the international cruise circuit of Mumbai, Mangalore and Kochi ports. Even without a fully developed cruise terminal, around 20-25 cruise vessels visit the MPT every year, carrying about 20,000 tourists in total.

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